The New Jersey Chemical Industry Project was established in 2002 as a partnership between the US Environmental Protection Agency, three Dow Chemical plants and twelve other New Jersey chemical companies, representing a range of industries and processes (US-DOE 2003). An inventory of by-products was established and during the one-year project some 50 promising synergy ideas were generated for 27 large volume waste streams. Dow reported its intent to implement three synergies, and likewise one of the power utility companies (Public Sector Services Group) reported its intent to implement three synergies (Fralinger 2003). The New Jersey project has enabled Dow Chemical to become familiar with the by-product synergy process and gauge its success firsthand (US-DOE 2003). The company has become aware of the potential cost savings and environmental benefits of by-product synergies. Since 2003, Dow is actively pursuing by-product synergies among its key production locations worldwide.
The EPA used this New Jersey Chemical Industry Project as a pilot to understand how by-product synergies can be identified and realised. The project provided valuable information on the impacts of regulation and the role of regulators on regional synergies initiatives Moreover the EPA funded the Centre for Clean Air Policy, a non-governmental organisation, to select and analyse a representative sample of the synergies to determine their environmental impact versus current methods of handling and disposal (van Berkel 2006).
The following regional synergy examples are documented in this database:
By-Product Synergies
- Application of Coal Ash in Building and Construction
- Reuse of “White Water” from Latex Paint Manufacturing
- Utilisation of Polyurethane Foam Scraps as a Potting Soil Additive
Utility Synergies
- information not yet available
More information about regional synergies in New Jersey can be found on:
We would be interested to learn from other case study examples that could be added to this database:
This webpage was last modified on 15 February 2007.
Disclaimer: The synergy information is provided for general use and although we believe all data to be correct, CSRP can accept no responsibility for the accuracy of the information. All presented case-study examples are retrieved from publicly available resources.